Brave Browser 1.56 launches with Off The Record mode and custom shortcuts

Brave Software released Brave Browser 1.56 to the stable channel today. The latest version of the Chromium-based browser adds support for the recently unveiled Off The Record mode, custom keyboard shortcuts and support for Certificate Transparency.

The release channel version made a jump from 1.53 to 1.56. Brave Software notes that it used the version bump to address an error it encountered.

The update is pushed to user devices automatically, thanks to the built-in updating functionality of the browser. Brave users may select Menu > Help > About Brave to display the current version and have the browser run a manual check for updates. The browser should pick up the update automatically at this point.

Brave 1.56: the changes

One of the main new features of Brave 1.56 is its new Off The Record mode. The new browsing mode allows users of the browser to access certain sites with sensitive information without leaving a record on the device.

Brave notes that this mode has advantages over other options, such as using private browsing mode. One argument for Off The Record is that it is automatic, but it also means that it will work only on sites that are supported.

The mode is applied automatically on sites that use a flag and a premade list of sites.  Users see a prompt when the mode is supported on a site to either use Off The Record mode or access the site normally.

Another new feature of Brave 1.56 is support for custom keyboard shortcuts. Brave users may load brave://settings/system/shortcuts to display the list of shortcuts.

There, they find options to remove existing keyboard shortcuts and to add their own shortcuts. Available actions are quite extension, ranging from common operations such as Back, Forward and Reload to closing tabs, selecting the last tab, or exiting the browser.

Actions may be mapped to a single-key or key combinations. Brave warns if a keyboard shortcut is mapped to another action already.

Another new feature of the latest Brave browser release is support for Certificate Transparency. The feature is supported by other browsers already, including Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Certificate Transparency is an Internet security standard that may reveal certificates that "were given out without them being requested by the genuine owner, such as malicious certificates by a compromised certificate authority".

Brave Software showcased a number of additional features in the past that it planned to include in Brave 1.54, but these are not included in this release. Missing features include the new Forgetful Browsing feature and the Localhost protection.

Software engineers addressed several issues in Brave 1.56, such as a login issue on Live.com, crashes when using side panel extensions or opening a private window under certain circumstances, and more.

You can check out the full changelog of Brave 1.56 here. The page lists the latest downloads as well.

Now you: have you tried Brave browser recently?

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